Going Under
by Vixeria
Summary: (Terrible title, I know, but I may change it later...) One hundred and fifty years have passed since she was sucked into a black hole with him. More than likely, she was dead, but even if that were the case - HE was still alive. They could FEEL it. They would have their revenge...even if it costed their lives to do so.
1. Ch 01: Prologue

She looked into the disgustingly murky water at her reflection. With a sigh, she swiped at the water, not willing to accept the truth of herself - of what she had become. She was hideous, she knew. She was still the same person, though outwardly...she had changed. Glancing about at the scenery, it wasn't too hard to distinguish why.

Her once beautifully smooth skin had formed a sort of indestructible rock that seemed to grow from the open pores on her skin. It was jagged and seemed to grow like stalagmites from her body. It stretched around her head, covering her left eye - sealing it shut - and racing across her forehead. It framed around the left side of her face in patches. It sealed her lips and left nostril shut. It was a wonder how she was even able to breathe. More patches could be seen running down the left side of her neck, across her shoulder and down her arm. It tore at the remnants of her once nice, clean uniform. It covered almost her entire left breast, tearing her shirt clear open for all eyes to see - if there only were any. Her shirt, though in shreds, barely covered the right side of her chest and part of her stomach. As it reached her hip, it seemed to retreat back to patches before settling into smooth skin once more on her left thigh.

She glanced over at the cause for all of her troubles. She wondered how they had grown so close to each other. Or at least partly. Enough to keep themselves at a truce and protect each other from the other dangers of this world.

His once-ruby red eyes now dull were nearly covered with that same stalagmite-like rock. It obscured his vision, leaving him partially vulnerable to the dangers that seemed to constantly surround them both. The rock, like hers, grew around his face in patches, down his right side instead of his left. It disappeared beneath his clothes, now stretched to the brink of tearing because of the rock.

"You are beneath yourself, woman," he said to her.

Unfortunately, her response was rather lacking thanks to her unnatural impairment currently growing across her face. The best she could really do was glare at him and blow outwardly with her nose.

Such was the life of the party. This place - this land was dank and dusty. It was utterly dull and lifeless. It was so unlike Earth and all of it's creatures, all of it's living things. And it was so dark. Since the first time they each had set foot on this musty ground, there had yet to be even a small speck of brightness. It was always like a low-lit moonlight that seemed to cover the entire world. What resembled trees looked more like burnt sticks. The same could be said for a weed or plant. The ground looked scorched, ranging in hues of black, grey, and smoldering blue. Everything - plants, rocks, trees - everything seemed to blend together with those same hues making it hard to distinguish them from another.

There were no houses...  
There were no people...

It was just them, and only them. The one man she despised with all of her heart. The one who terrorized so many people from their home-world. And yet...

He was all she had.

It was such a cliché... Not that it mattered much in this place and time. She had even...on more than one occasion...fancied herself with the hated half-demon that she had the misfortune of being companions with. Of course, it was only during those times where she was truly going mad and the only thing to pass the time was to fantasize. He had spoken to her many times, and despite her despise of him, she was grateful to have him there, if only to share in the wonderful abyss they called Bleak.

Yes, Bleak was a rather depressing place, one that she was sure no creature ever wanted to reside. Yes...and she was stuck here. Forever, it would seem.

* * *

The sky had flared into a beautiful array of different shades of oranges, reds, and yellows. There were, perhaps, a couple of stars just beginning to twinkle into existence for the creatures of the world to admire. The air was crisp and cool, sure to give those who weren't properly protected a nasty little virus, referred to and well-known as the common cold.

As the sky grew darker, a rather large group that had come to unite as one for this night, waited with anticipation of the battle ahead. A leader and his wolf clan, a Lord and his rather small faction, a Miko and Hanyou with their own division; all had set aside their vast differences to partake in this event.

Everyone was ready - it was time, and they all knew it. Everyone watched with bated breath, just waiting, anticipating the enemy's next move...

* * *

It was days like these where he missed his first surrogate mother. After she disappeared all those moons ago, so had his hopes and dreams of keeping her with him forever had. His happiness seemed to fade after that day, and ever since, he was moody, broody, and oh-so-negative. Not that he meant to, it's just how his demeanor had happened after so long.

After he separated himself from the group, a female demoness took him in, ready to train him to perfection. It was only until he had found her true plans were to mate him that he decided that he had to get out, fast. That's when he stumbled upon Sesshomaru.

By this time, he was about as tall as the demon lord's chest. Yes, demons age at a faster rate than humans, but it takes a while for a demon to sprout - or so he had learned. He had learned of the fox' history, had learned of the many different tribes around the world, and was even being trained by Sesshomaru himself to one day be in charge of his army. He was going to be a proud successor because he was one of the only ones to be trained by Sesshomaru himself. Everyone else was trained beneath his subordinates that had been hand-trained.

He missed her...Kagome. The first female to ever take him in and baby him like a child after his own parents had passed on to the after-world. The only person he would ever consider as a true, caring parent and friend. He wished he could find her. He wished Inuyasha had given up on the search - and it was thanks to Kikyou that he finally stopped looking for the little woman. He had felt so disheartened; he had been so sure that Inuyasha would find his surrogate mother, and in his own way, Inuyasha had tried to console him. The only thing is that he didn't want to stick around Inuyasha - vowed he would get stronger and find her one day, even if it meant dedicating his life to the notion.

Granted, that was all in the beginning. He occasionally visited the monk and the slayer. He watched them have children, he watched them grow old and got to see their grandchildren. He had grown to be a great friend to the slayer village. Eventually, Kirara ended up without a master, and ended up going with him because the village had grown skeptical after she had picked up one fo the village children by the collar of their shirt because she had gotten too close to some extremely dangerous weapons. He ended up taking her right then and there after he witnessed her being shooed away.

Now she was his traveling companion and the two of them kept each other safe. Eventually, he caught wind of Inuyasha. Although he hated the actions from his half-demon friend, he actually was grateful to hear that he was joining Sesshomaru at his palace. He also heard that Kikyou passed away. He wasn't sorry in the least for the clay pot had caused so much heart break for his friends. His surrogate mother in particular.

Now, here they were, nearly two-hundred years later...

"Master Shippou," one of the palace maids said with a knock at the door, "Lord Inuyasha and Lord Sesshomaru would like to discuss something with you in the library within the hour."

"Thank you, that will be all," he said with a wave of his hand and stood. He took one last look outside at the green, grassy field that seemed to stretch for acres upon acres. For a moment, he imagined her...Kagome. Her standing in the field and chasing both himself and Rin.

Poor Rin...she had succumbed to disease such a long time ago, it seemed. She was a rather close friend of his. When he had heard she had been taken out by a poison disease because she was affiliated with demons, he had nearly lost himself. Or rather, he did for a time, but not so much to lose control of himself.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, he went to go see his surrogate father - Inuyasha - and his uncle in the library.

* * *

He was moody, he knew that. Today marks the day that Kagome left with that corrupt bastard who dared call himself a half-demon. He despised even being of the same species as the vile hanyou.

He remembered when it first happened - that black hole, as Kagome called it one time, had sucked them both in. He had been too slow to save her, but it didn't mean he couldn't keep his pack safe. He knew that he had to keep from anyone else getting trapped in that thing, and just when he had secured everyone...he watched her fingers sink slowly below the surface of the purplish black sink hole that had appeared from out of nowhere.

For nearly two weeks he had searched and had always gone straight back to where it happened. He always felt that she was still alive, still there. He didn't rest, perhaps for maybe a few moments before he was back at it. It wasn't until Kikyou decided enough was enough that she managed to pin him down so he could get some rest. It had forced him to accept whatever fate had in store for the girl. He had sobbed for what felt like hours after that. He loved her, he truly did...just not the way everyone thought he did.

He was so broken-hearted, and when Shippou had decided to leave, it nearly tore him in half. He all but ignored Sango and Miroku. He watched them grow old and die, just as Shippou had. He even sat back and watched as Kikyou began to deteriorate, though at a much slower rate than any human. She remained on earth for quite some time, and she had even told him that she was tired. He let her go, only because she told him to.

It was about fifty years after the initial static charge that had set him off. He had visited the place he had last seen the girl from the future - her "resting place" as many called it - and had felt it. It was like lightning, he could taste it on his tongue. Spicy almost. He ended up sniffing around the area for forever before deciding it was just his imagination. However, fifty years after that, he had visited again, but this time, he hadn't been the only one there. Sesshomaru had been there because for some reason, the static was much heavier than it had been before. The air was thicker, and you could definitely tell something was there.

And just like before...it vanished without a trace.

Now one hundred and fifty years later since Kagome's disappearance, the charge was in the air and it was coming intervals. He was sure if Sesshomaru hadn't said anything about the pattern, it would have flown directly over everyone's heads.

He missed her, he truly did. He missed her laugh, her smile. The way she use to send him reeling into the dirt. The way she kept him guessing and trying to figure out what the hell was on her mind. He missed her stupid need for a bath every day. He had loved hearing her soft snore at night. Everything about her had given him the comfort he needed to keep on going, even while he had nothing.

He only hoped that this plan of Sesshomaru's was going to work.

* * *

He had done plenty of study for this. He noticed the change in the intervals. When Inuyasha had noticed the static charge in the air nearly a hundred years ago, it set off an alarm in the back of his brain. He had somehow managed to connect it with the human girl's disappearance. The fact that the static charge was centered specifically in the area she had been swallowed into that black hole in the ground was of no coincidence to him. He had a theory that if the static charge was strong enough, he just might be able to get his hands on Naraku's throat once and for all. Granted, the half breed had been dormant for quite some time - a hundred and fifty years to be exact - but it didn't mean he had forgotten the hanyou's treachery.

He was definitely going to find his arch nemesis, and he was positive that once he found him, the girl should come along just as well. That is, of course, if she weren't already dead.

* * *

They were standing at the site. Their hair was standing on end and everyone was so tense, it probably could have been sliced in half with a sword. Speaking of...

Sesshomaru was the first to draw his. The electrifying feeling in the air was so defined, he could taste it on his taste and smell it all around them. Following his leads, his half-brother and surrogate son drew their swords, ready to perform their skills.

Their goal was to get so much energy to gather in that area that the portal that had swallowed the hanyou and the girl up would reopen and spit them out. That is...if they were in the area...all they could do was hope that the girl was alive and well on the other end of the portal. With no more thoughts flowing through their minds, they raised their swords together and gather the energy in the atmosphere...

* * *

_**I have to say that this story had been bothering my brain for God-knows-how-long. I feel like it needed to get OUT. I've wanted to get this story out in the open since last year, but I could never figure out how I wanted to write it...There are so many ideas I have for this story - I can't wait to see how it turns out!**_

_**In case anyone was wondering - my other stories that I have yet to finish...I don't even remember where I was in them. I have a problem with trying to the finish stories. There are a bunch of people out there who are just aching for me to finish them, and I just haven't gotten around to them yet. . Sorry everyone for such a long delay! I will also be updating my profile soon, so be sure to check it out!**_


	2. Ch 02: The Pull

He could _smell_ it. That _charge_...that _electrifying_ scent that had been there off and on for a long while now. It was so much stronger than what he remembered the scent to be. "It is there..."

She looked up at him through her one good eye, staring at him hard. She could feel a pulse of energy swirling in a particular direction, gathering. But if they went over there...they could _die_. Aside from the multiple masses of shadows that threatened to swallow them whole, the swirling energies seemed to be a source of life of some kind. She really had no desire to go and die just yet...but what if there was something over there? What if there was a meaning to it? She gave him the most intense stare she could muster before jerking her head in the direction of the collection of energy that seemed to be growing. She gestured with her right hand as if saying, "After you."

"We could be killed," he replied. Luckily, he hadn't lost _all_ of his eyesight just yet. He could still see blurry images, and his senses allowed him to see auras of other creatures, much like the young miko herself. She rolled her only revealed eye at him. "Very well, Onna, we shall appease your curiosity. We have nothing else better to do."

She looked at him carefully before she noticed something...she stood straight up as if in alarm. She grabbed his shoulder and pointed. Off in the distance, some ways away from them, _the shadows_ were _moving_. They seemed to be racing forward, trying to get to whatever was stirring just a little beyond their reach. If they didn't hurry, those shadows would surely kill them. She squeezed her companion's shoulder, causing him to give her a look. Now they _had_ to go - the shadows were coming from every corner. That pool of energy was _drawing_ them in.

"I see not what you can," he reminded her. It was too far out of his field of vision to see it. He could see masses of blurred darkness, just like everything else around them. He knew the dangers, however. He remembered the first time he had laid eyes on those shadows. Those _horrific_ beings that seemed to exist in this world. It seemed they were straight out of a child's nightmare - everything you had ever feared rested within those shadows. He was nearly positive that those shadows were what had the young woman tensing at his side.

She tugged him, urging him to surge forward. She felt that the energies were there to help them. She felt they were there to rid them of this world, as if it _knew_ they didn't belong there. As if there were something out of place that _needed_ to be corrected. She took off in a sprint. There was little time they had before the shadows of darkness were upon them. She feared those dark abysses. She _hated_ what they had done to her. And she couldn't even _fight _them, not really anyway. She could ward them off with her holy light, but even that would get exhausted after so long of doing so.

They ran side by side, he being the faster of the two. When they reached the gathering of energies, you could _literally_ see the static dancing around in a gigantic circle. _This was it! _She thought. _This_ is what they had been waiting on for so long! It was finally time to go back home! She squeezed her _friend's_ shoulder, and her cheeks rose, her would-be smile - one that hadn't appeared across her face in a long time. Glancing about, you could it was just a bunch of energy.

They didn't know what to do...there wasn't enough energy to form that portal to get them home! She quickly raised her hand above her head, collecting her miko power into the palms of her hands high above her head in an attempt draw in some more. Following her lead, he did the same with what dark power he possessed. After a few short moments, they could see the smallest speck beginning to form at the center of the energy. It began growing larger...and soon enough it was big enough for the two of them to jump through it.

With excitement lighting up each of their features, they poised themselves to jump. However, just as they jumped, a shadow lurched forward and wrapped itself around her right ankle, yanking her to the floor. He was already beginning to sink within the hole. He reached forward, trying to reach her and go back, but the hole was already sucking him in. Tentacles flew forward from his body and wrapped themselves around her body, dragging and jerking her body out of the grasp of the shadows. She was dragged into the warp hole, pain written clearly across her face.

* * *

They could see the hole growing in midair. A bulge was already beginning to warp out of it. The static seemed to stretch and grow dangerously uncontrollable as whatever was inside was coming out. Shadow-like hands and tentacles were reaching forward from the hole, eyeballs opening and closing, looking about at the bright world beyond it's hiding places. They could see a body forming and being pulled through as if finally beginning to be weighed down by gravity.

It was _him_. They all knew it was. And when he popped out and hit the ground hard, his tentacles came out after him, dragging something out with him. It was _her_. She was _alive_.

They quickly cut their energy sources down to stop the warp hole from growing any bigger, and without anything to sustain, it sucked itself back in like a miniature swirl of a pink, blue, white, and purple implosion. They flew forward, ready to take a look at what had come out of it, and each had equal variations of shock and confusion written across their faces.

They were there...Kagome and Naraku. _Together._

She opened her pain-filled eyes to the world and immediately shut them from the brightness that practically overpowered her senses. The pain in her right ankle was excruciating but nothing she hadn't felt before. When her eyes had adjusted, she looked down and noticed she was laying atop Naraku, and quickly, concern stretched across her face. She shook him for his eyes were closed. She shook him harder in an attempt to wake him, but to no avail. Tears began to pool in her eyes, but she remained as calm as she could. She placed her head to his chest and was relieved to hear a heartbeat. She let those tears fall loose, relief flooding her body. She took in her surroundings and saw three individuals standing a little ways away from them.

Sesshomaru was raising his sword to dispatch the evil hanyou and give relief to the lands, but he was stopped when the woman threw herself in front of his body. He could tell that she couldn't speak, but the look in her eye told him that she would fight to save his life.

Naraku grunted and opened his eyes to look at the woman above him. "You are more trouble than you are worth, woman," Kagome shot a look downward at him before gesturing to Sesshomaru. "Ah, Lord Sesshomaru. What a _pleasure_ it is to see you in this world."

Kagome glared down at the hanyou for making such a snide comment before looking at the other two who were standing beside him. She didn't recognize one of them, but she had a hunch she had seen him before. The other however...she was so tempted to leave Naraku and jump into his arms.

Kagome helped Naraku up once she was positive that Sesshomaru wasn't going to attack. Kagome held his arm to steady him and kept her right arm locked on his left, showing to Sesshomaru that they had reached an agreement of sorts.

"Kagome..." Inuyasha muttered at the same time Shippou said, "Mom."

* * *

_**I thought about ending this here...but I decided to continue!**_

* * *

"Inuyasha," Naraku said as he nodded his head in greeting. Kagome looked up at Naraku, who was much taller than herself. Her eyes began to shimmer, silently asking a question to her friend. He nodded, placing a hand atop her head and brushing her bangs aside. "You may," he replied with a soft rumble.

She smiled, her cheeks lifting in that familiar way as she hobble-ran past Sesshomaru and jumped onto Inuyasha, wrapping herself around him and letting tears fall down her face. She briefly registered the fact that he was wearing some heavy armor over his fire rat garb, but she was too happy to see him to really care. Inuyasha looked at her, confused. He touched the rough edges of her face as well as the smooth areas, and his heart seemed to break. "You bastard," he growled deep within his chest, "what did you do to her?"

"I did nothing," Naraku said, "it is something that happens when play with things that should not have been touched."

Inuyasha snarled and forced Kagome to the side as he faced Naraku. Kagome snorted before pushing Inuyasha aside and hobbling over to her friend. She pulled Naraku forward toward Inuyasha, who gave her a look that clearly said she had lost her mind. She grabbed Inuyasha's hand and placed Inuyasha's hand in Naraku's, attempting to get them to shake hands and made a truce.

"You protected her..." Inuyasha suddenly realized what Kagome was trying to say. Kagome nodded her head, a soft look crossing her face as she gave them the most sincere and soft look she could manage.

Shippou finally stepped forward, coughing. Kagome looked over to him as he stood tall...like a soldier. Kagome walked over to him, cocking her head to the side. He looked _so_ familiar to her. She reached up and pushed his bangs out of the way. When she revealed sea green eyes, her one good eye widened and she grabbed his face before pulling him down and giving him a hug. "You recognize me..." Shippou said as he began to crumble. The two of them slowly went down to their knees, attempting to hang onto each other for as long as they could. Tears streamed down Kagome's face alonside Shippou's.

_I could never forget my baby_, she thought as she pet his head, mothering him with all of the love and affection she could muster. She pulled back and held his face, looking him directly in the eyes and looking him over. She gestured to his entire body. _You have grown so much, I'm so proud of you._

Shippou smiled, something he hadn't truly done in a long time, and a blush blossomed across his nose. "I haven't grown that much..." He said a bit bashfully. Kagome stood and took him with her before turning to see Inuyasha and Naraku conversing. Sesshomaru was standing off to the side, silently judging and contemplating what to do.

And where _do_ they go from here? She wondered so many things. She took in the sight before her - she never thought she'd see this again...all of the green. It was beautiful to her. She looked at Sesshomaru and went ahead and hobbled over to him. She looked him directly in the eye...

* * *

_**Alright, well, this might be my last update for a little while. I actually wasn't planning on posting an update to the story so soon, but I did. Hopefully, everyone can seen where this is going...XD**_


	3. Ch 03: Disputes

**_Some answers!_**

**_Just realized there were a bunch of mistakes...thanks for pointing them out! I'm definitely going to keep it in my notes so that when I finish the story, I can go back and re-write it correctly. ^_^_**

**_The two are still covered in that rock-like substance. Some answers will be revealed during the story, as I didn't want to over-pack the first few chapters. XP Also, Kagome currently has only one working eye as described in the first chapter, sorry for the confusion!_**

**_And sorry, no this will not be a yaoi fic. I like yaoi, too...but not for this one! XP I'll keep an open mind for this story, though! No telepathy...! She's only communicating through hand gestures and body language right now. You gotta think about it - being stuck with someone for a hundred and fifty years, you probably get the chance to learn each other's movements, what the other is thinking without even having to ask, and whatnot._**

**_I would also like to take the opportunity to say that I don't have the best quality when it comes to internet. Sometimes my internet will lose connection when I'm about to save, so it makes me a little frustrated when I have to write the darn thing over again. _**

**_SO...I saw many of reviews earlier on about two weeks ago and had decided to type out this entire chapter just for the hell of it right then there. Unfortunately, I never got around to posting it, but here it is! I plan on typing up another chapter tonight, but I can't really say when I'll have it up. XP_**

**_Enjoy this update!_**

* * *

She stared up at the demon lord wondering what he would do or say next. Would he kill her for stopping him from killing Naraku? Would he try to kill Naraku with or without her involvement? What happens now? So many thoughts ran through her mind. So many questions were popping up one after the next. She wasn't even sure how she should act around everyone. She didn't dare touch his person, as that was a direct disrespect to him and his _lordly_ status.

He looked down into her one good eye. What was that grayish black that was stuck to the young woman's face? He watched her come up to him as if silently asking permission for something. What was he to tell her? She had officially stopped him from killing the half breed, now what? That had been his main goal for so long, he wasn't sure how to proceed. Should he lock the hanyou up until death? Should he allow the hanyou to live but banish him from his lands? Should he...

He suddenly knew _exactly_ what to do. "You will join my army and live at the palace," he said, his head snapping over to the hanyou to give him a death glare. When his eyes had finally moved from the girl's face to his brother, he missed the raised cheek in his direction, indicating her joy at the situation. He couldn't very well kill the human for intercepting his kill - he had promised his brother she would remain safe should she be alive. "We have much to discuss." He didn't say much after that. He sheathed his sword and began the trek back to his palace.

Inuyasha looked at their still-linked hands - that grudge he was holding...where did it go? It was as if...as if Kagome had erased those feelings and just made him feel..._relief_. It was like...it didn't even matter. Naraku didn't matter. _Nothing mattered_. She was home. _That's_ what mattered.

"Just because my mother has, for some reason, given you her forgiveness and acceptance of some kind," Shippou said with a dangerous look in his eye, stepping toward Naraku when Inuyasha had turned and walked after his brother, "it _doesn't_ mean that anything his changed."

Kagome stood there like a bump on the log, taking in her surroundings. _Green_...she _so_ wanted a bath! She didn't have to be all grimy anymore. She couldn't wait to get started, too. And then...she remembered her incredibly achy ankle that had been grabbed by those shadows. It hurt like hell for her. She limped after Sesshomaru, ignoring Shippou's comment to Naraku. She'd probably mention something about it later when she found a way to communicate with her son. Not more than a few moments passed before someone swept her off her feet and into a strong and comfy hold. She looked up to see Naraku looking forward. He didn't bother looking down at her, but instead, looked straight forward at Sesshomaru's withdrawing back.

"I am not out of the clear just yet, Onna," Naraku muttered, just loud enough for her ears only. Kagome nodded her head in agreement. She knew that, too. More than likely, there were going to be some major consequences with joining Sesshomaru's ranks...

* * *

Kagome had fallen fast asleep, the heat of the day and the pain in her ankle finally taking her over about thirty or so minutes into their miniature journey to Sesshomaru's home. Naraku knew the scorching pain from being touched by a shadow. It burned your flesh, searing it and causing it to smoke once released. And once it began to cool, it began to grow those rock-like formations on your skin. It didn't even matter if it was but a few brief moments of contact...those things were deadly. Kagome would more than likely be in pain for a long while and will probably limp for some time. Once the rock began to form, she probably won't have the ability to rotate her ankle anymore.

He briefly wondered if there was a way to get rid of these hideously rough rock faces from their bodies. He supposed there might be a cure for it, but then...he doubted anyone from this particular world knew anything of the one he and the woman had been stuck in.

Inuyasha walked behind him and Shippou flanked him as a just-in-case procedure. They hadn't wanted him taking off with their friend again. He supposed that if he got off lucky, Sesshomaru would take it easy on him and allow him to remain with the human at his side. He supposed he grew a tad bit attached to the woman, though he hadn't wanted to. In fact, she was the whole reason he was sucked into the place to begin with. Why should they even be friends? He had, on more than one occasion, tried to kill her. He hoped Sesshomaru wouldn't kill the girl for her insolent ways.

Then again, he was pretty sure that the two behind him would jump to aid her should it come to that.

His thoughts came to a screeching halt as the palace came into view. Everyone entered as instructed and was immediately re-directed to separate rooms. Naraku handed over Kagome to a healer, but as soon as he had done so, he had been restricted. He was forced to his knees and chains and shackles were placed around his neck, wrists, and ankles. He quickly looked up to see them taking away his human, and immediately he wanted to fight. Unfortunately, he was in no condition to even _think_ of retaliating.

Inuyasha waited until Kagome was out of earshot before he drew back his arm and laid his fist against Naraku's face. Naraku's head snapped back and blood flew from his now cracked nose. Her glared up at the hanyou who he once hunted. He said nothing, but you could tell that his gaze promised death should he continue. "If it weren't for Kagome, I'd do a lot worse to you," he paused and glanced at the guards who held him, "take him away and lock him in a cell, nice and tight. Make sure there is no way for him to escape."

"We need to go speak to Sesshomaru," Shippou added in, "we'll be in to check on _him_ later."

Before they could completely drag him away, Naraku snarled out, "It's because of _Kagome_ that you even live to see the next day." No one said a word as he was partially dragged through the halls.

* * *

Kagome awoke on a cot in the infirmary with a man hovering over her body. She had a split second to realize what the man was doing before blinding pain crossed her features. The man had a rag that had been dabbed in water. She forced the man's hand away from her body and simply shook her head, rejecting his assistance. It hurt far too much to even want to begin trying to heal herself.

She looked at where the damp rag had touched her skin and was fascinated at what she saw. Normally, after being touched by one of them _monsters_, her skin would sizzle and grow those nasty protrusions on the surface. In fact, she would say that the results were near immediate. However...as she looked at her ankle, she could see an extremely red and swollen patch of skin. Heat seemed to be rising from her skin from where the rag touched her.

"It would seem that the rock sediments are simply poisons that take the form of a solid," the healer explained to her. "I've discovered that if you catch it fast enough, you'd be able to stop it from growing. The waters from the springs in this land seemed to purify the toxins from whatever you had come into contact with, but it seems to have irritated your skin quite a bit," he said. The healer was a man, she finally noted. _A very handsome one at that,_ she thought. He had bright blue hair that had a very appealing shine to it. It flowed down his back in waves, and was pulled back into a neat little ribbon at the base of his neck. His eyes were as pale a blue as his hair, and just as gorgeous. He face was eyes were intense, however, and his expression was rather hard. _Focused._ There was a single line on the left side of his face that curved into a loop before disappearing into his hair line, accentuating his narrow jaw.

"I have also noticed," he continued, "that you cannot speak. It leaves me to assume that you have tried to eat or you were forced to consume this toxin at some point for it has very nearly overtaken your entire tongue."

Kagome stared at him for just a moment before shaking her head. She really hadn't known it would be hazardous to her health. She had been starving that day, and without anything else to satisfy her rather anorexic-looking stomach, she hadn't any other choice but to eat what she could find. Boy what a mistake that had been...

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she sat up and swung her legs to the side of high cot. She looked up with questions in her mind that seemed to be written clear across her face. "Lords Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, and Prince Shippou are all awaiting you in the study," he bowed to her, "Lady Kagome, do take it easy - I believe if you got any sort of water on those protrusions on your body, you will be in a lot of pain."

Kagome nodded. dismissing his concern and silently thanking him for his help. She walked out of the room, forgetting to ask for his name - though, she couldn't very well voice anything now could she?

She followed the brightly burning auras of her friends and quickly managed to locate them _far_ away from where she was currently at. Deciding she might as well go and see them, she shrugged and went on her way. She was pretty sure an interrogation was going to take place the second she got there.

* * *

_**I have to say, I am SO not a happy camper tonight. First, I got chewed out by my mother, who said my top was way WAY too low. It's not like I WENT anywhere today. It's bad enough I have to lock myself up in a room every freakin' day BECAUSE of her, and now I'm being criticized for how I dress? Are you kidding me? For one thing, my top was only crooked because I've been laying down for god-knows-how-long and I didn't think to fix it because I wasn't GOING anywhere. Also - I'm 22 years old! I can freakin' dress myself! If I cared about how I looked to others, I honestly would've asked!**_

_**And THEN I logged in onto this site...I was typing away and then the internet got shut off. Again...my life sucks. I couldn't recover my work and I had spent so long making sure it sounded okay!**_

_**Ugh...sorry I'm ranting you guys, but as I said before, not a very good night for me...I might go ahead and get lost in typing again. Sorry you guys had to hear the brunt of my frustration...everyone seems to be able to find me on every site I go to, so this is pretty much the only place I feel comfy enough to rant.**_

_**Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! As I stated, I'll be typing up another chapter tonight, but I can't guarantee it'll be uploaded tonight or even tomorrow. . Just keep a look-out for it! XP**_


	4. Ch 04: Punishment

_**I just wanna' say...thanks you guys, for all ya'll's support. (I'm Texan - can't help my accent. XD But I'm pretty sure my grammar is spot on. XP)**_

_**Anyways, things have cooled down with my parents - I've hardly seen anyone the past couple days, so things have been good.**_

_**I was reading through my reviews and I couldn't help it...It had all motivated me into typing another chapter! Hope you guys like!**_

**_Enjoy this update!_**

* * *

It had taken her quite some time to get herself over to their current place in the palace. She figured it best if she hid her aura so as not to alert any of Sesshomaru's palace residents that a human was running around unattended. She was almost positive she wouldn't receive any nice treatment from any demon she came across. So, to avoid conflict, she remained hidden. However...

She didn't like what she was hearing as she walked up to the door. She was poised, ready to knock, when her eye widened in shock.

_"She doesn't have to know," _she heard her surrogate son say, _"if we tell her he's just busy, she'll never have to find out."_

_"You **know** that if she **does** find out, she'll have our hides, right?"_ she heard Inuyasha mention. _"Besides, he's received a good amount of beatings while she's been out. I say we go ahead and kill the bastard to atone for his sins."_

_"Shippou, Inuyasha, enough,"_ she heard Sesshomaru's deep baritone voice command. Funny, she didn't remember it being so deep before. _"I have decided that she will remain unaware of the hanyou's fate. However, it will remain behind closed doors what happens to the hanyou. You will train him under your ranks, Inuyasha, do with him as you please."_

_"That's a genius idea,"_ Shippou commented, _"make him work so hard that he'll just end up giving out. Then he could take his rightful punishment each night."_

Kagome had enough of listening to what they were saying. She sought out her friend's aura as quickly as possible before turning tail and running in his direction. She was going to get to him, and she was determined to keep him safe. After all...

She owed him her life.

Little did she know, however, that three who remained inside the room had heard her footsteps slamming down on the marble-like floor outside the door as she took off running. Now at high alert, they gathered their things - each of them knowing _exactly_ where she was headed.

* * *

When Kagome had reached the cells, she was definitely not happy with what she saw. Tears welled up in her eye and spilled over as she witnessed the gruesome scene before her.

Blood was splattered against the floor and walls as if someone had been murdered right then and there. A youkai with a mask covering his entire head and covered from head to toe in nothing but black held a whip in his hand. Her friend was stripped near naked, with nothing but a loin cloth on him, chained spread eagle and facing the wall. His limbs looked as if they were being stretched to their limits, blood poured from every lashing that he had received. From the looks of things, she had been out for quite some time for him to have received so many.

She watched as the youkai raised his hand, ready to strike him again, but before he could, she ran in front of Naraku to protect him from any further lashings. She'd be damned if she let this _monster_ torture him any further than he already had. She refused to stand idly by if she knew there was something she could do. And she did.

She stepped right into the whip's path, intercepting it's target. Blood spurted from her chest, ripping what little clothing she had on her chest. Immediately her hands raised to cover her right breast, her left completely covered by the rock forming on her skin. She refused to fight someone who was just doing their job, but she also wouldn't let any more harm come to her friend.

She could feel the warm stickiness of the blood flowing down towards her belly. The pain and sting of the whip had really smacked against her skin good. She realized that some of the parts that the whip hit on her skin happened to be the rocky areas, yet there wasn't a single mark on it.

Her thoughts came to a halt when she felt the crack of the whip again, this time against her arms and right thigh. She would have cried out if she could could, but all that escaped was a snort from her nose and tears from her eye. She leaned back against Naraku's backside, holding herself upright.

"Kagome," she heard Naraku gurgle out to her, "you foolish woman."

Before the youkai could lift his hand again, Sesshomaru had stepped forth to cease his actions. Inuyasha and Shippou ran over to Kagome who immediately thrust a gigantic wave of purification energy, singing them and throwing them back against the opposite side of the cell and into a wall. Her eyebrows furrowed - she was _furious_. How could they do this? How could they torture another living being like this? Why? What was the point of it?

"Kagome, listen to me, I was only-" Kagome stopped Inuyasha's explanation with a death glare before she turned and placed gentle hands on Naraku's back. She let her purification powers gently roll over his skin in warm, caressing waves that made his muscles relax. He went limp in his chains, closing his eyes and officially remaining unconscious. Kagome let the waves of energy die down when she realized there wasn't much she could do except ease the pain.

She quickly turned to Sesshomaru before thrusting her finger at him, pointing directly at his face before pointing to Naraku and making a quick sweep down to the floor. She wanted him down and out of those chains, and she wanted it _now_. "No," Sesshomaru responded to her, already knowing her desires. "He is going to atone for his sins one way or another, and this is the first step. The sooner you accept it, the sooner it will be over and done."

Kagome blew out harshly from her nose, reminding him that she was definitely not done with this conversation. She sat down beside Naraku and leaned herself up against the wall. "What is she doing?" Inuyasha demanded.

"I think..." Shippou coughed out, patting out the dust from his clothes. His mother certainly did a number on them. "I think she plans to stay there until he is released..."

Sesshomaru turned around and walked away. "You can't just _leave_ her there, Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha yelled at his brother's dismissal.

"It is her choice," he responded, "if she chooses to remain at the filth's side, than she will remain as such. If she is siding with that beast, she is an accomplice, and therefore, will be punished as well. Her punishment has not yet been determined, but when sentenced, I guarantee she will not be left out easy.

"Keep in mind that the council is the one who has made these rules," Sesshomaru explained, "You must pray to the kami that I can sway their thoughts."

Inuyasha's ears pinned back against his head and he took another look at the woman he _use_ to know. How had things changed so much? How could it be that things had turned out the way they had? What happened to make her so protective of that _bastard_?

With too many answers and not enough questions, he left the room to go wallow in depression in his room, leaving Shippou remaining with the two in the cell.

"Mama," Shippou said as he stuffed his hands into some pockets he had custom made for his hakama, "you've changed." Kagome looked up to her son, noting his saddened demeanor. "With you being gone for the past hundred and fifty years, things have been hard.

"I watched Sango's and Miroku's family..." He said, "when they had kids, I couldn't help but miss you. I couldn't tell anyone who my own mother was because had disappeared into a black hole years before then. Do you know how that made me feel? I felt so lost without you.

"That stupid clay pot Kikyou forced Inuyasha to quit searching for you," he continued, ranting. He knew he was, but he just...he just needed to get it all out of his mind. Kagome knew that he probably needed someone to listen to him. And she would always be there for him, but at the moment, she was still quite upset with the three youkai. "And then you went and fraternized with this...this _evil hanyou_. His scent is wrapped all around you - and I don't even think you realize it. Naraku was our _enemy_. Have things changed so much that we don't even see eye-to-eye anymore?" He paused and shook his head. "You know what? I'm leaving. I'm done talking to you for now. There are lots and lots of questions to ask and answer - but I won't even get the kind of answers I want from you."

Kagome looked at her son sadly as he left the dungeon area. She had a lot to think about. For one thing...she had been gone for a hundred and fifty years? How as she even _alive?_ Wouldn't she have died the second she came back through the portal? She supposed it made a little bit of sense. Time had always been something interesting for her. She never aged when she went through the well to and from her time. But if it's been a hundred and fifty years...would her family even be there anymore? Is the well closed? Did time flow differently in the modern era?

On another note...her son had to watch her best friends grow, have a family, and the die. She knew it must have been incredibly hard for the him to figure out where he needed to be in life. She secretly wondered what happened to him after Sango and Miroku had left this world. She use to fantasize about seeing her friends again - about getting things to go back to the way they had been before she had disappeared. Except...she returned only to find out they had passed away. And now that she thought about it - she didn't even know _how_ they passed away. Did a youkai get to them before old age? Disease? What about Rin? What happened to poor little Rin?

What _happened?_

She had _far_ too many questions and not _nearly_ enough answers. She allowed her eyes to droop closed and silently fell asleep next to her unconscious friend. Only time would tell what fate had in store for the both of them.

* * *

**_Well, could anyone see this particular chapter going the way it had? XD I had some pretty dark thoughts in my head today, and well...yeah, I guess it kinda influenced this chapter. XP_**

**_As stated in the last chapter, this won't be a yaoi fic, but I don't mind experimenting a LITTLE. I'm actually partially considering bisexual-goodness. XP_**

**_Keep in mind that I'm not really on this site a whole a lot. I spend a good portion of my time on Deviantart, so if you'd like to leave a comment or keep up-to-date with me, go ahead and find me over there! I usually post what I'm up to right there on my profile page. XP . Just find my profile page at vixeria dot deviantart dot com. (Replace the "dots"!)_**

**_Anyways, stay tuned for the next chappie!_**


	5. Ch 05: Energies

**_Sooo...  
_**

**_Enjoy this update!_**

* * *

_It was so...dark. Bleak. Yes, that was almost the perfect word for this. It was so hard for her to see. She squinted at just about everything there, trying to judge if it were safe to touch or not. She walked in aimless directions, not really having a destination in mind. She called out, trying to find someone, anyone, in this world she had been sucked into.  
_

_"Onna," she whipped around and her gaze landed on that shadowy figure known as Naraku. "You have dragged me here - and now you will suffer the consequences!" He was definitely enraged. A slimy tentacle wrapped itself around her neck and lifted her clear off the ground. Yet...all she could do was laugh._

_"If you're trapped here, then there's no reason for me to even try fighting you," she said, beginning to choke for air, "besides - more than likely, neither of us are getting out of here **ever**, so you might as well kill me now so you can have this world **to yourself**." _

_Something about those words made him think twice about what he wanted to do with her. He looked at her skeptically for just a moment before letting her drop to the ground, gasping for air. "You will live here with me - and you will suffer." He said._

_That's when the shadows came. What were they? They just looked like...floating clouds. Naraku stood in front of one such cloud, and it floated clear over his head. It had barely touched a bit of his face when he had cried out in pain. Kagome, panicking, tried to escape, but a tentacle wrapped itself around her mid-section to keep her from moving. "Don't even **think** about leaving, wench."_

_Kagome looked up at him, anger in her eyes and fierce determination clearly written across her face. She watched as Naraku pulled his hand away from his face and saw the rock formation for the first time. It was there, just above his brow. What was that? It began overtaking his face, slowly crawling down the right side of his eye.  
_

_Naraku watched the girl watch him. He was a little unnerved with how she was looking at him, as if there were something wrong with him."Y-You're face..." She muttered as she stared at him with wide eyes. For a moment, neither of them made a single move before she was wrapped from head to toe in tentacles and whisked away into the sky.  
_

_Naraku had fled the area, understanding that whatever those ominous clouds were, deformed their bodies. When he touched the ground, he let the woman see where they were going - not that there was much to see to begin with. Kagome stayed silent, not willing to subject herself to his wrath should he show agitation from her words. She looked on, curious as to where he would take them._

* * *

Kagome opened her eyes, remembering how the two first started off. Remarkably, Naraku hadn't killed her that day so long ago. Even more so, was that he protected her to a fault. Not long after they first witnessed those ominous clouds, Naraku's vision had begun to wane. It was sad, yes, but somehow, he still seemed to keep track of her. He never even showed how it was any sort of impairment or anything. It never hindered him, not even once. The most he had done was wipe at his forehead and eyes, but that was it. He kept pace, he kept track, he somehow seemed to know when there was danger and when it was safe. Again, it had been all Kagome could do but to follow his lead.

And now here she was...locked in a dungeon with him by who she thought were once her friends.

Over the course of nearly a week, Inuyasha would come to her, tell her what she was doing was foolish. Tell her how much he missed her, and so on and so forth. She didn't hear any of it, however, for she was still peeved at his and his brother's decisions. Naraku had regained consciousness here and there and more or less recovered from the initial beating he had received just a week prior. The repercussions had been slow to heal, and she wondered if it was due to the fact they were infected with the rock sediment.

Either that or Sesshomaru had developed some sort of whip that was poison to youkai and caused them to heal at a reduced rate...

She supposed both ideas sounded pretty plausible.

The door to the dungeons opened down the hall, the loud screeching telling her that whoever was their way over was surely not in the greatest of moods. Sesshomaru stopped before the cell and motioned to a guard to come forth. The guard to her cell came over and released Naraku from his chains, allowing him to fall haphazardly across the dirty floor.

"You two will bathe and dress appropriately," he commanded, leaving no room for argument, "once decent, you will both join me in the dining hall and we will discuss your fates."

Kagome wanted to wince when she saw Naraku's body hit the floor. She barely paid any attention to what the demon lord had to say, mostly focused on her friend who was now wide awake and feeling sorer than ever. There was a moment of silence before she heard Sesshomaru walk away. For a moment, she thought to herself on what she should do. For all she knew, they would probably try to pull another stunt on her, make her believe Naraku was safe, when in reality, he really is not.

She shook herself of her thoughts when someone came to retrieve them. Kagome helped Naraku up and off the floor before the two followed after the woman.

A man greeted them at Kagome's bed chambers and explained that there were bathing quarters stationed in each room that joined with the room adjacent to it. She had immediately put up a fuss when they wanted to escort Naraku to his own bathing quarters, but after being zapped with just a little of her holy energy, the two relented and followed after Kagome and Naraku into Kagome's room and to the bathing quarters.

Both Kagome and Naraku bathed separately, each with their backs turned, and as quiet as could be. Kagome felt as though she were in bliss - her first _actual_ bath in _a hundred and fifty years_. She felt as though she had died and gone to heaven already. She hadn't exactly wanted to leave the baths either - she was scrubbed until her unblemished skin was shining a pretty pink. Her skin was course and calloused in places she hadn't even known existed.

Both Kagome and Naraku were dressed in a white robe, each of them tailored to cover certain areas of skin. Kagome's kimono was only partially placed together, as was Naraku's. She was dressed in a deep blue with the most intricate silver flowers embroidered on the hems and flowing in neat little swirls around the kimono. They had done away with the left shoulder and chest area completely. They had a sleeve that was banded just above and around her left elbow, where she knew the rock began to fade out at. The kimono covered just enough of her right breast to be decent. The loop from her shoulder to her left waist was comfortable, comfortable enough to make her not feel so exposed like her old uniform, now torn to shreds.

Naraku was dressed in a similar haori and hakama. It was the same deep blue top, but with an insanely pristine white hakama. His haori was threaded on the hems with silver, but they were plain in comparison to what she wore. And at the corner of his hakama, there was a single, tiny black moon stitched into the bottom right on his right pant leg.

Both Kagome's and Naraku's hair was brushed to perfection. Granted, the comb they used snagged quite often on the rock that grew on each of their scalps, but it was doable. Kagome allowed them to braid her bangs back to accentuate the rest of her hair - the rest of her hair, hung loose and flowed beautifully down her back and waves of black. She was surprised to hear that she had random strands of white streaking through her hair. There weren't a whole lot, but it was enough to take notice of. She wondered when she had gotten them.

They were quickly escorted to the dining hall, announced once entered, and seated across from each other at the end of the table where the rest of the members sat. Sesshomaru sat at the head of the table. To his left was Shippou, and to his right was Inuyasha. Naraku sat beside Shippou, whereas Kagome sat across from him next to Inuyasha.

It was quiet when the plates were placed in front of them. Kagome didn't really touch her food, and the others had to wonder just how she had managed to eat this entire time. The food smelled wonderful...the first _actual_ meal she'd had in a hundred and fifty years...

...and she couldn't even taste it, let alone take a bite.

"How do you eat?" Inuyasha wondered allowed, immediately smacking himself. He didn't know if it was a touchy subject, but had thought about that the second it flew from his mouth.

The corner of Kagome's mouth twitched a bit, her cheek rising in what he assumed was a smirk of sorts. She gestured to her hand as if making a show of it. Her fingers delicately placed themselves on the chicken that was placed on the plate before her, and everyone watched with rapt fascination as the chicken seemed to deteriorate into sparkling blue particles that swirled around in what looked like a mini tornado. After a moment or two, they danced around her arm in a spiral, but as it reached her shoulder, the particles shot out and around her chest before disappearing beneath the rock sentiment over her heart.

The entire chicken on the plate had completely disappeared.

In Shippou's eyes, he could see the longing in her to want to taste it. He imagined she couldn't even really get full by just absorbing the energies from the cooked chicken. But what she did next fascinated him to no end.

Kagome reached her hand over to Inuyasha's shoulder, placing her hand gently so as to not startle him. He looked at her with curiousness shining in his eyes before he felt it. Kagome was drawing on his youki. For a moment, he panicked, thinking he was going to get absorbed just like that chicken. However, he could _see_ what she was doing. His youki, a nice pretty red color, flowed into her body, allowing her to replenish some energy that seemed to be a bit low in different parts of her body. And he suddenly just _knew_ how she had managed to stay alive these past hundred and fifty years.

"She's absorbing the energy from everything around her to sustain her body," Inuyasha muttered, everyone listening to him.

Naraku nodded, "It does not necessarily need to be food that she absorbs. It can be anything with energy to give her the nourishment she needs to be able to survive," he said. "She has drawn from my youki many a time."

Inuyasha looked down at the small woman at his side. Her cheek was still raised and she stopped drawing from his youki. He could feel himself inside of her, in a whole new way he had never experience before. "There is a downside," Naraku added after a few moments of silence, "if she is not careful, she can take the very life force from any creature." He was referring to a particular memory, one that Kagome knew of too well. Her eye snapping over to his form across from her as she retracted her hand.

She remembered that particular day...the day she nearly killed him.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she decided to focus on the rest of dinner. Her entire plate was completely swept clean of all energy on it. It was time to get down to business.

* * *

**_Okay, so this was a tiny bit of a filler. I'm getting started on another chapter right now, however, I can't guarantee when it will be up.  
_**

**_I do have a bit of news, though. I will be moving within the next few weeks, and where I am going, I will not have internet. I won't even have any sort of transportation to get to the library that's soooo far away. Sigh. I might not have internet for quite some time, so if you guys don't hear from me for a while, that's most likely the reason why. XP I promise I haven't stopped working on this story! I plan on downloading all of my stories from this site before I lose my connection. This way, I can continue working on them and when I get back, everyone will have a LOT to read!_**

**_But for now...how'd you like the chapter? Lol! I'm trying to slow my roll with typing. I feel if I type too much too fast, I'm going end up skipping a lot of detail. I'm trying to make this story worth reading. XD_**

**_Stay tuned for the next chapter!_**


	6. Ch 06: Just a Push

**_Lol! I'm just getting started...! *Winks*  
_**

**_Just got through reading all my reviewers...It gives me confidence and help boost my mood into actually wanting to type up something new!_**

**_Enjoy this update!_**

* * *

Dinner had been so...awkward. After Inuyasha's random question about her eating habits and multiple stare-downs from several pairs of eyes around the table, there had been a silence that, if she only had a voice, she would have broken in a heart-beat. She never touched her fork - not really needing any utensils to eat.

"Miko," her head snapped up to Sesshomaru's face, giving him her undivided attention. "We will be taking you to the Holy Waters of Goshimi," he said, placing his only arm on the table in a relaxed manner. "There, we shall purge your toxins. Naraku will remain here."

Kagome's eyebrow furrowed. No he will not! She understood Sesshomaru's need to make Naraku suffer, but that didn't mean it was right! She was _not_ about to let his beatings continue! She snorted harshly through her only working nostril, peeved at him. If he thought she was going to go along with just whatever her said, he had another thing coming.

"Miko, you will do as I instructed," he said, but Kagome slammed her fist down on the table and stood. She gestured for Naraku to follow. She'd go with Naraku, or not at all.

"Kagome, stop making this so difficult," Inuyasha said, upset that she was defending their arch nemesis. "Naraku needs to stay here so that he can atone for his sins. Just because he's some freakish crap on his skin, doesn't mean he can't pay for what he's done."

_Freakish crap?_ She wanted to say, her eye narrowing at the hanyou. She smacked him upside the head and snorted again, shaking her head. Naraku stood, "Kagome, go. You will need the cleansing. I am able to function, you need better nourishment. The condition you have can be cured, take this opportunity."

Kagome weighed her options. She could risk leaving and actually rid herself of this hideousness. She could look normal...she could be herself again. She wanted, more than anything, to taste the food that she had consumed. She wanted to feel her beyond numb skin that hid beneath the growing rock sediment. She wanted more than anything to be able to _speak_. She knew Naraku could survive with or without the impairments to his body, but she...on the other hand...could not. She wasn't exactly a demon. Which made her wonder how she had even survived a hundred and fifty years. But those were thoughts for another time.

She gave a sympathetic look over to Naraku and carefully took her seat once more. Naraku turned to Sesshomaru, choosing to remain standing. "You will begin a vigorous schedule, starting tomorrow at the crack of dawn." Naraku did nothing but nod.

Kagome couldn't help but feel sad for her friend. He was going to get punished pretty harshly from working under Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru was _seriously_ not going to take it easy on him, which is why she wanted to stay in the first place. She knew he was going to make it a living hell for Naraku. It has yet to begin, but she _knew_.

With a defeated posture, she nodded her consent. What else could she do? She couldn't very well put up an armed debate. There wasn't much she could use to back herself up anyway. She understood her friend had to undergo the consequences of his past actions - she just hoped they didn't give it to him too harshly...

When everyone was through with their meals, Kagome stood and left the dining room. She needed some fresh air, _craved_ it. She hadn't properly been able to enjoy the sun or the wind or anything since she had gotten there. She wondered if being locked in the darkness for so long had made her appreciate life more. It was too bad she was still confined to her silence - it would mean just that much more to her.

When she made it to the courtyard, it seemed like there was a bustle of activity going on. There were servants running all over the place from left to right and back again, each engrossed in their own missions. She briefly wondered if Sesshomaru was what they would call _rich_ here in the Feudal Era.

Her thoughts took a turn for the worst as she came upon the very center of the courtyard. She stared at the beautifully crafted water fountain as water trickled along it's center in pretty, glistening waves. Kagome wondered about her family in the future. She wondered what had happened to them, if they even remember her. More than likely, they were did, but if time had truly stopped for her, than she would make it back to the future...right? It was all she could really believe in. After all, if she hadn't aged a day past twenty-three a hundred and fifty years ago, than more than likely she'll still be around for centuries...she hoped.

Her thoughts came to thankful halt as someone touched her shoulder. "I will be fine here," Naraku muttered. He wondered when he had grown so attached to the woman next to him. He noticed that she hadn't even realized that he had followed her outside. For some reason...he didn't feel the need any longer to cause mass destruction. Not after being told so many things from the young woman...

She gave him a stare that sent chills all over him. He had honestly startled her...and she so terribly hated surprises. She turned her head sharply in a huffy manner, turning her nose to the air and crossing her arms. She would go along with whatever he said, only because she knew he'd be okay - they wouldn't kill him. She knew that...at least...they wouldn't kill him if they didn't want to get on her bad side.

She let her posture relax as he led her around the gardens. After being in the dark for so long, she couldn't help but to think that it was so _bright _here. It was beautiful - there was so much more to look at then just dead trees and whatnot. Kagome noted that the cold was coming; more than likely they would have to prepare for winter very soon. "You should get prepared for your journey," Naraku muttered as he steered her back into the direction of the palace doors that had led them to the gardens. "It will be a long one," he added as a last thought.

Kagome nodded, briefly glancing at his face. He was looking elsewhere, away from her. When they reached her room, she quickly turned and wrapped her arms around Naraku's midsection. He was actually quite tall compared to her. She was small in stature, and her arms could barely reach all the way around him. Naraku stood there for a moment before placing a hand on the top of her head. He gave her the barest of smiles before she nodded to him, him nodding back, and then releasing each other. She turned and disappeared beyond the doors to her bedroom.

Almost instantly, guards were placed right in front of her door, two of them. Two more came to his sides and escorted him directly to his chambers...a barred room that was specially made just for him. He wasn't happy about it, but what could he do? His past actions were really unforgivable - he was lucky he was even being given this opportunity. He briefly pondered the power that the little onna held over the household that resided within this palace. He wondered why they would bend so easily to her will - but when he really thought about it...so would he.

* * *

**_Just a bit of a filler chapter so that I can prepare for some upcoming chapters! Here's a spoiler for being so patient with me!_**

* * *

_He looked up at her with an intensity that could rival a raging storm. Her body shook - she was, in all honesty, freezing. She was on watch this night...but her teeth were chattering so loudly, it practically drove him up the wall. He quickly lifted her from her spot on the rock with a tentacle, a squeak emanating from her slightly sealed lips. The rock formation was beginning to build on the left side of her face... She looked up at him as he brought her to lay on his chest, opening his kimono to welcome her in. She shivered for a long while before falling into a fitful sleep..._


	7. Ch 07: Needing Something

_**I love everyone's reviews! It motivates me more than you can imagine! X3**_

**_Enjoy this update!_**

* * *

"According to the seer," Inuyasha said, his arms crossed behind his head as they walked along the road, "the Holy Waters of Goshimi are located to the far east, well past Kouga's den in the mountains."

Kagome looked at him briefly before intertwining her hands behind her back and casually walking beside him. Sesshomaru was ahead of them, leading them in the direction they needed to be going.

Kagome had, more or less, _said_ her goodbyes to Naraku before they embarked on their journey. She had watched the guards roughly jerk him in a particular direction, and she couldn't help but hope they weren't too harsh on him. She knew bad things were coming for him, but at the same time...he _did_ deserve it. Briefly, she wondered what ever happened to Kagura and Kanna...though she was pretty sure they were still around - maybe.

They had gotten started early in the morning, right before the sun rose. She didn't really mind - it was the first sunrise she got to see since being back. It was a beautiful moment, slightly ruined by Inuyasha's running mouth this morning. But again, she didn't really mind - even if it was a little annoying. Kagome looked at his older brother's back - she wondered why he was coming. Was it really any of his business what happened to her? She could understand Inuyasha coming with and escorting her - they use to be best friends after all. But...why Sesshomaru?

Kagome scuffled closer to the full demon, making longer strides to catch up to him and be at his side. Inuyasha's ears flew forward at complete attention, noting his friend's absence at his side, but not worrying too much about it. Kagome skipped along and was distracted by looking at many things along the roadside. She seemed to be having a blast to him - and he let her.

"We will reach the Holy Waters in approximately one week's time if we keep this pace," Sesshomaru commented as Kagome came up to his side.

Her eye looked up at him in wonder, and he couldn't help but to want to understand her. Want to be able to _hear_ her voice, to _see _what she thought. It was a little frustrating to understand a creature as silent as he. He was use to noise - it made it easier to predict. She...she was not making it easy. The most he could read from her was body language, and even then, it was tough to understand exactly what she was thinking.

He looked back up to the road ahead - it was going to be a long trip...

* * *

They had just settled down for camp that night. They built a fire, but didn't catch or cook anything. Kagome simply drew energy from Inuyasha again to sustain her own energy. Kagome looked over to the two who had taken it upon themselves to protect her. She briefly recalled Shippou that morning as he saw us off. He had the most horrible scowl on his face - though she could pretty much guess why. Sesshomaru had left him in charge of the palace and take care of any important documents that may need tending to.

She assumed it wasn't very much fun.

"How did you end up the way you are anyway? I mean, you and Naraku," Inuyasha wondered out loud.

Kagome looked over at him - when she had her voice back, she would tell him, eventually. She looked up at the sky - there were so many stars tonight...

_She was staring up at the sky, or what was suppose to be a sky. "I miss the stars..." her words were a tiny tad muffled because her lips were beginning to seal over on the left side. She reached a hand out, looking at her hand that was beginning to form the rock as well. It was cold - it was almost always cold here. She bore with it, but sometimes it got to her...like tonight._

_A shiver made it's way up her spine as she looked up. A tear escaped her eye and she quickly swiped at her face. She wondered if her friends and family remembered her. She wondered if she would ever make it out of here alive._

_Naraku had placed her on watch this night, or what they had deemed as night, anyway. Naraku was on watch most nights because he didn't need nearly as much rest as she, but he did need his rest every so often. She remembered when they first started out - he wouldn't trust her as he fell asleep. He use to wait till she was completely out that he would even close his eyes. And even then he didn't get a whole lot of rest. It wasn't until one night where he passed out so hard she couldn't wake him at all. It had been very dangerous for the clouds had appeared. She did the best she could be dragging him to a cave of sorts and attempting to block them in with large rocks all over the place. It was an extremely small cave, too..._

_Needless to say, that's how she ended up with some of these rock formations on her hands._

_Unknown to her, Naraku was wide awake. He was staring at her with and intensity that could rival a raging storm. __Her body shook - she was, in all honesty, freezing. She was on watch this night...but her teeth were chattering so loudly, it practically drove him up the wall. _

_He quickly lifted her from her spot on the rock with a tentacle, a squeak emanating from her slightly sealed lips. The rock formation was beginning to build on the left side of her face... She looked up at him as he brought her to lay on his chest, opening his kimono to welcome her in._

_She shivered for a long while before falling into a fitful sleep. He looked down at her - she was quite an interesting human...in his opinion. She had an unusual affinity for befriending enemies it would seem. She had unflinching loyalties to her friends and she was quite the honorable woman. There was a lot about her he wanted to know and yet at the same time...why would he bother? He acted on impulse when he wrapped her up in his haori._

_When she woke, she stared up at him with wide eyes. A blush blossomed across her face. He was actually quite handsome when you really looked at him. He had a soft look in his face when he was sleeping, too. Suddenly, his eyes opened and he lifted his head to look down at her. He didn't realize, however, how close his face would be to hers. So close, were they, that their noses were actually touching. Kagome's face blushed hard - she stared up at the half-demon that had somehow managed to blossom something within her. Without thinking...she closed the distance between them. He leaned the rest of the way in, helping her out some. The kiss was hard and passionate - as if it were something they both needed to release._

_They stayed that way for some time longer. She laid her head back down on his chest - why did she do that? What...why? What was she **thinking**? There's no way...no way she could have some sort of attraction to him. It was just...she was just lonely. She wanted someone...something...she didn't know what she wanted. All she knew was that whatever that was, it helped fill something in her chest that seemed to be missing for some reason._

_She looked back up at him...their eyes connected, but he had turned cold again. Her eyes hardened...it was a mistake..._

Her eyes popped open - that felt as if it happened eons ago. She had wondered time and time again why they had done such a thing. She wondered what their relationship really was. She wondered so many things about him, but she really couldn't...she couldn't put two and two together. She wondered when she had even closed her eyes anyway. She was admiring the stars...they were so beautiful - did she fall asleep or something. She looked over to her left and noticed that the fire was dwindling out. Inuyasha was sitting at the base of a tree, Tetsusaiga clutched close to his chest and his eyes closed. She could tell he was snoozing pretty lightly - if there were so much as a snap of a twig, he'd probably wake in an instant.

She looked around the rest of the camp and noticed that the youkai lord was nowhere in sight. She used her spiritual energy to see if she could figure out where he was - apparently he was a lot closer than she thought. He seemed to be laying quite comfortably in a tree on the opposite side of camp - just a tree or so away from her. She just hadn't been able to see him because he was practically above her.

With a stretch, she grew comfy again and closed her eyes one last time. She was still a bit sleepy - why had she even woken to begin with?

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_**I hope this chapter was satisfying! This may be my last chapter update for some time...so this may be my last announcement.**_

_**I'm moving this coming week, and where I'm moving to won't have an internet connection. With only one working vehicle, mostly used to get my hubby to and from work - I won't even be able to get to the library...Not to mention the lib is sooooo far away...Sigh. Oh well... Guess I'll just continue working on stuffs. XP Hope you enjoyed the chappie! Catch you guys later!**_


	8. Ch 08: Banishing Blemishes Forever

_**Aw, I love you guys...One more!**_

_**I absolutely got a kick out of one of the reviews. To be honest, I've thought about making my own books before - and I SORTA know what to do first. Thing is...I like writing at my own pace. When you write a book, you have so long to get a transcript in, so it's like...a job. For me, this is more of a hobby than anything. Not to mention I have a HUGE passion for visual novel graphics designing. Anyways...**_

**_Enjoy this update!_**

* * *

The week was long - they were nearly upon the holy springs, and she couldn't help but notice the ever-present silence between the two brothers. Inuyasha seemed to keep his distance from Sesshomaru, which made no sense because back at the Palace, they were as close as could be to her. Granted, the only time she saw them next to each other was at the dinner table, but still...

They never made eye contact. They never spoke to each other. They never did_ anything_. Inuyasha didn't even have any words or threats or complaints about anything.

Had she really been gone so long that Inuyasha had turned into a completely different person? She noticed changes in Sesshomaru as well. Such as his relaxed state. She could tell he was calm by the read in his aura. Naraku had taught her a good many things...reading auras was one of his teachings. She knew it was unseemly for a miko of her caliber to learn from one such as him, but really, what other alternatives had she been given?

Shaking her thoughts from her brain, she looked at Sesshomaru. The anciety was beginning to build him - at least, she thought it was anxiety. It was beautiful - a white with mixes of a grayish dull purple swirled around his body like flames. There was once upon a time where she couldn't even so much as look at Naraku straight because of the constant seeing of these flames. It was as if once she had learned, she couldn't go back. It had taken her several tries, but she learned to "switch it off", so-to-speak, after so long. She had never felt greater relief in all her years of living.

She watched the flames dance around him before she felt both Inuyasha's and Sesshomaru's demonic presences completely disappear. She looked over to Inuyasha and saw hair wavy mass of black and violet-colored eyes shifting to and from every area in range. She looked forward and noticed, for the first time, that Sesshomaru was beginning to sizzle a bit. Kagome blinked and realized that there was a holy barrier - a powerful one at that - that didn't allow demonic presences through. If Sesshomaru didn't get back...he was definitely not coming back out unscathed.

Kagome thought for a moment before she reached a hand out, flicking her wrist in Sesshomaru's direction in front of her, and erected a barrier around his person. He stopped for a split second, looking curiously at the barrier before noticing that his skin had stopped burning so fervently. He looked at him to see the little miko put her hand down at her side and give him a pretty little smile - well, what she could manage anyway.

Kagome walked forward, gesturing for him to continue before she followed right after him. The barrier never faltered.

* * *

They reached the springs in record time - the sun was beginning to set and she could feel her own anxiety bubbling to the surface. A pair of guardians, a priest and priestess from what she could see, stood at the opening to the springs. "Halt!" The woman called, "Speak your reasons for trespassing on the Holy Grounds of Goshimi!"

"We seek the cleansing waters to banish this woman's impairing growths upon her body," Sesshomaru stated.

The woman and man walked closer, taking a careful look at the three who had ventured into their territory. She took a look at the young woman and her face scrunched up in horror at the impurities that grew on the woman's skin. The woman could see Kagome's aura, understood that she was a priestess much like herself, and she crumpled to the ground and quickly braced her hands together in a prayer before her feet. Kagome felt awkward. This woman praying to her, trying to dispell the rock sediments growing on her. She understood the practice - the woman thought they were impurities; demons trying to invade her mind, soul, and body.

Kagome shook her head at the woman and placed a hand on her shoulder. The woman flinched back, to afraid to be touched by Kagome. "Please, desist in touching any and all within these boundaries - I am unfamiliar with such impurities as yours and I do not wish to become infected." Kagome nodded her head, understanding where she was coming from, but also knowing that what she had wasn't in the least bit contagious.

Kagome walked onward, following as the woman escorted them through narrow hallways which grew ever narrower the further they disappeared into the side of the mountain that they had traveled to. Eventually, they stopped in front of a small crevice, one where only one person could fit through at a time. "I will need you to disrobe yourself," the woman said, "for when you walk in, there will be steps that lead directly into the Holy Waters. Your demon guardian and human companions must remain outside for this is holy ground...and they are both males, and you female."

Kagome nodded her head and disrobed easily, not in the least shy about her nudity. She already knew that she was the most unattractive person on the planet at the moment. She also understood that the clothes she wore were of demon origin. She slipped through the crack after placing her clothes into a flabbergasted Inuyasha's hands and slipped through the crevice. The woman helped her inside and led her down a rather long staircase that did, indeed, lead straight to the glowing holy waters below. When they reached the bottom, a small, circular platform with a few materials on its surface rested in the waters. The woman led her to the very edge of the platform and motioned her to sit.

Kagome sat cross-legged, ready to have these rocks off her skin for good. Kagome looked at the woman expectantly as she knelt beside her, a bowl in hand. The woman whispered prayers to the water and Kagome bowed her head in respect as the woman gently dipped the bowl into the water before lifting it over Kagome left arm.

She wanted to _scream._ The water hurt so badly...she didn't know why it was such a blinding hurt, but it was. It took several minutes, and by the end of it, she was breathing harshly through her one nostril. Her arm...though only in one spot...had been cleansed. The skin that had been covered eons ago was a bright red, revealed to the darkness of the cavern and shining from the glowing waters surrounding them. "I can see that this will take much longer than expected..." the woman commented, "it has been half an hour and all we did was clear away the impurities on arm and wrist."

Kagome had a tear escape her eye. She knew that the torture she was about to endure was not going to be easy on her. With as deep a breath as she could she nodded to the woman to continue.

They worked for many hours, managing to get rid of what was on her arm and shoulder. Some of it spilled over onto her chest - and she had watched with pain etched clear across her face. She couldn't scream for her lips were still sealed, but _oh_ how she wished she could. "Let us remove some off your face...I wonder when it was since you have had a decent meal," the woman said, making idle conversation, "you are far too skinny and need much more nutrition in your diet from what I can see."

Kagome nodded to the woman as she came close to Kagome. Kagome tilted her head back and let the water rush over her face, slowly revealing the skin beneath. When they were done with her face nearly an hour and a half later, Kagome had to raise a hand and breath. Her mouth was wide open and breaths were coming in raspy pants and it was harsh to both of their human ears. "N-No...no m-more..." she stuttered out, her voice harsh and course from years of disuse.

"We nearly through - we only need your chest and leg," the woman said with a reassuring smile. "You have come this far - it is time to cleanse you completely."

Kagome looked up at the woman, tears in her eyes, as she clenched them shut. The woman poured the holy water over Kagome's chest, revealing beautiful, unblemished mounds that shown bright red, just as the rest of her body did. Kagome couldn't handle it. A wailing cry erupted from her mouth, and she suddenly couldn't stop. The woman pursued forth, determined to clear this woman's impurities for good.

Outside the little crevice, however, Sesshomaru had heard the wail. He had also felt the barrier waver, indicating to him of the miko's extreme distress. The male from earlier had come to the front, blocking his entrance from checking on the woman. The woman was hurting one of his pack mates... and as his body began to tense further with the miko's cries, his body began to sizzle for the barrier had dropped completely. Inuyasha was barely beginning to hear the woman's cries of anguish and pain, and soon enough, he was pushing forth, trying with all his might to get passed the man. Eventually, he was able to shove the man to the side, all the while, Sesshomaru's growling beginning to escalate.

Sesshomaru rushed into the cavern, forcing his large body into the small crevice and racing down below. The woman had just poured the last of the holy water over Kagome's leg, banishing the rest of the rock sediment. Kagome looked up at Sesshomaru, her body burning bright pink all over. She reached up to grab for him and he carefully wrapped her in her previous robe. "You must not be down here!" The woman cried, "You will upset the balance-"

"Hush woman, you try my patience," he demanded and quickly carried Kagome up the steps to Inuyasha, who had successfully managed to knock the man out. "We take our leave now," Sesshomaru said as he continued to carry Kagome in his arm. Kagome had nonstop tears trailing down her face, but she had enough sense to erect another barrier around Sesshomaru after the smell of burning flesh finally reached her dainty human nose.

When they reached outside of the barrier, Inuyasha's natural hair and eye color returned to their places and the barrier dropped form around Sesshomaru. Kagome had finally passed out due to unrelented strees, pain, and weariness. The two brothers gave each other a look as they continued on the set path before them.

What would she do once she woke?

* * *

_**Oh boy, this was a doozy! It didn't quite turn out the way I was thinking for it to turn out...originally, I had something planned, but I think I'm going to rearrange it a bit.**_

_**Any suggestions for upcoming chapters? I'm open to some opinions X3 I having a tiny tad bit of writers' block, but nothing I can't overcome! I also decided to make this particular chapter extra long as a bit of a farewell gift to my readers. XP I have no idea how long I will be without internet soooo...I hope you enjoyed the chapter! There will be more to come, promise!**_


	9. Ch 09: Little Things

**_I'm back! Though with school around the corner...I may not have enough time to finish my story. *Sniff* And it's going so well so far..._**

**_Enjoy this update!_**

* * *

What would she do once she woke? The thoughts revolved around and back again until she finally stirred in Inuyasha's arms, when Sesshomaru had finally relented to go ahead and switch carrying the young woman. They quickly sat her up on a rather large rock that allowed her to sit with her face almost level with theirs.

She stared at them after rubbing her eyes for a moment when she realized...she could see out of her other eye. She stared for a second, her eyes growing wide and she looked over her arms before searching her entire body. A smile graced her features - it had hurt, she remembered. In fact, it was downright torturous, but now as she sat gazing at her arm that was once covered in blemishes that resembled a mountain's rocky side, she couldn't help but to think that it was all worth it.

She looked up and stared into two sets of golden hues. She didn't know what to do or say - what would happen to her now that she was supposedly back to normal? And what would become of her friend back and Sesshomaru's palace? She didn't want to think about the possibilities, and as she parted her lips to speak, her throat constricted from disuse and she coughed. She gripped at her throat and grimaced. _Of course!_ She thought, _with so long of not using my voice, there was bound to be a down side to all of this._

Inuyasha reached out a hand almost at the same time Sesshomaru had. She stared at both hands before reaching forward with each of her own. She grasped their hands as they settled her on her feet once more. Without all of that extra weight she felt a bit light, as if...as if she was so agile she could do a hundred back-flips. Granted, she wasn't nearly as...free in movement...as she had liked to be while covered in that _stuff_ but she had grown used to it, and without it...it just made her feel free. Unbound to her once looming fate.

She smiled at them each, realizing her hands were still in each of their own - Sesshomaru on her left, Inuyasha on her right. She stared at their own hands for a moment before looking up at each of their faces and letting a big soft smile stretch across her face. "Th-tha-ank yo-you," her voice cracked with every word but the gratitude was there and clearly written across her face.

"First things first!" Inuyasha said with a haughty, crooked smile, "we gotta get some food into ya' so we can get a move on back home."

"Ho-ome," Kagome said, her voice cracking as her smile grew. Food sounded wonderful, and she couldn't _wait_ to get her hands on something yummy! Her mouth salivated (of which hadn't occurred in the many years that she hadn't been able to eat a single morsel or grain of _anything)_ at the mere thought of juicy, delectable, carnivorous little meal.

Kagome got a fire going while Sesshomaru took off for a hunt and Inuyasha grabbed a bucket of water. Kagome had the fire going nice and high. The flames were beautiful in her eyes - she hadn't felt a source of heat nor seen anything that beautiful in a hundred fifty years... give or take a few. When Inuyasha and Sesshomaru returned, they saw her staring into the red and orange translucent colors as if she were in a trance. Before they could think too much on it, however, she turned to them and gave them a small smile before taking out a knife that she had hidden and skinning a rather large boar that Sesshomaru had dropped at the campfire's edge. She took care in slicing it's skin - after all, she was a _little_ out of practice - and once done, she placed both large and small chunks of meat on small spikes all the way around the fire.

The meat hadn't sat for long before Sesshomaru had reached forth and grabbed a stick or two with large chunks of meat on it. She watched him eat it, noting that it was hardly even cooked. Inuyasha liked his meat medium rare, she knew, or rather, remembered, but she had never actually seen Sesshomaru eat in front of her and Inuyasha before. She supposed that raw or close-to-raw meat was what he favored. She watched the blood of the animal trickle down his chin briefly before he swiped it away in a manner that was strangely graceful. She wondered when it was that she began noticing small little things. Even when she had been alone with Naraku all those years, over time, she had begun to notice small, little things about him as well as the scenery around them.

Inuyasha took his pieces finally before sitting back and eating. He also poured some water into a bowl of sorts for her to drink. She took it gratefully and had only thought of taking a sip, when suddenly, her thirst was so great, she couldn't ignore it. She drank the entire bowl before she knew before her thirst flashed across her eyes. She nearly scrambled over to the bucket at Inuyasha's side, and both men looked at her out of curiosity and slightly surprised silence. She dipped her bowl into the bucket again and drank...and drank more...and she continued that way for several long minutes.

"What's wrong with me?" Her voice, now smoother after so much water sliding down her throat, came out so soft, almost like a lullaby to the two who sat a little ways from her.

"Kagome...you drink like you've never had water before," Inuyasha said without thinking.

"Technically...I haven't," Kagome said, blinking at the remaining water in the bucket. "In the past hundred and fifty years...I have even had an ounce to drink...I haven't even had anything to actually nibble on."

Inuyasha looked over at his brother, who looked at him in turn. The two had become accustomed to each other's presences over the years. They each, silently, understood what the other was saying without words. "I'm going to get more meat," Inuyasha said before Kagome could say a word. Kagome only nodded. If her thirst was of any indication...the food was going to be just as much.

Kagome dipped her bowl into the water once more and began to drink like her life depended on it.

Before she knew it...the bucket of water was gone.

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**_Phew! That was a lot of typing done in just an hour! Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I'm currently typing up yet another one as we speak! ^_^_**


	10. Ch 10: A Story Uncovered

_**It's getting easier bit by bit to be able to update! Though I am hitting a few rocky roads here and there, I'm pursuing forward!**_

* * *

Kagome's voice had gradually come back to her. Her first meal consisted of a wild boar, rabbit, and some stray venison, and she had loved every burst of flavor that had entered her mouth. She remembered how ravenous her appetite had gotten while in the presence of the two brothers. The second she had taken her first bite, she didn't stop - she _couldn't_ stop. She wondered briefly how long she had been eating before actually stopping to talk again. She hadn't felt full the entire time she had eaten, and she had to wonder where all of it had been going.

Afterwards, they had went ahead and bunked down for the night, but they had set out again at the crack of dawn. Kagome didn't mind - her first sunrise with both of her eyes made her feel refreshed and rearing to go. Her happy spirit didn't go unnoticed by the two.

"So...how did you and...Naraku...?" Inuyasha muttered, not really sure how to voice his question.

Sesshomaru seemed to be equally as interested. How _had_ the two been acquainted? How did that even _work_?

Kagome closed her eyes briefly and thought back. It had honestly been a very long time. She suddenly felt very old as she remembered her past with Naraku. She couldn't help but to wonder when it was that she had begun to see him differently.

"I suppose, it was some time after I was sucked into the warp-hole," she stated as she continued on ahead in front of them. Her voice was soft and barely above a whisper - it had been this way ever since she had finished eating the night before. It was as if...her throat muscles weren't allowing her to speak above that tone. "Naraku and I...things changed. He threatened to kill me when we first got there. It took us a while to actually understand that world.

"That place is different...I want to name it Bleak..."

* * *

_"Bleak," she said. Naraku looked over at her with disdain in his eyes. He had been counting the days...if his thoughts were correct, his time of the lunar cycle was coming. There was no way of stopping it and he did not wish for the woman to bare witness to his weakness. She'd be able to use it against him and then he would never be able to defeat her pesky friends._

_Kagome looked over at her arch-nemesis, making idle conversation, "This place is so...bleak. There's nothing here. Why did you bring me to a world with no life in it?"_

_"It was unintentional," Naraku responded. "It never would have happened if you had simply stayed put, girl. You have destroyed This One's plans and now it will be ever longer once they are carried out."_

_For a long time, the two didn't speak, only watching the other intently. "What is it you want from me?" She finally asked. "I hold no jewel shards - Kikyou is safe-guarding them in my stead."_

_"You are friends with the undead witch?" He snarled._

_"Hardly," she sneered back, "she is or once was in league with you. Why would I befriend someone who could so easily stab me in the back?" She let a few moments pass before she spoke once more. "She is no longer an enemy, though we are still far from being friends." She didn't give him much more than that. She let him think on it and turned her thoughts around in her mind._

_She knew it had been quite a while since she had last seen daylight. Her eyes had quickly adjusted to the dinky darkness that surrounded them. Granted, she couldn't quite "see" per se, but she still had her senses. She felt a little heavier here - it reminded her of other planets, where gravity weighed more so than others. "Why are you after the jewel?" She asked, simply to make conversation._

_They had finally managed to come across a nice cliff that overlooked a vast expanse of...nothingness. There were no pretty colors, just different shades of black and gray. She sat on the ledge as Naraku took a seat somewhere behind her, his legs crossed. She wasn't expecting answer. Not really. She swung one of her legs off the ledge and propped herself up on the opposite knee. There was no wind or breeze...there never seemed to be. It wasn't ever hot, but at certain times of what she assumed was the night, it would drop temperatures enough to make her huddle close to her nemesis._

_Naraku never answered her. He would let her speak what was on her mind, he knew that she was a talkative one - though she had yet to actually open up. She didn't speak too much, but when she did, she would ask questions. It sort of bothered him with her incessant questions, she could tell, but she was relentless. If she was going to be stuck in this hell hole forever, she was going to damn well speak her mind._

_"What is your true story, I wonder?" Kagome muttered to herself. She stared at her blunt fingernails resting upon her lifted knee. "Were you a kind man once? Were you a horrid, wretched being?" She paused, "What relation did you **really** have to Kikyou?"  
_

_For a long time, she let the question hang in silence. It wasn't until the temperatures dropped and she began to shiver that the two headed into a nearby hole of sorts that was just big enough for the two to sit side by side. Naraku had opened up his kimono, of which he was still partially growing use to, and with little to no hesitation at all, she sat between his legs and allowed him to wrap them both up in the large kimono._

_"That woman was there to heal me," he stated. "Before I became known as Naraku, my name was Onigumo. I was a traveling man, and time and time again, I fell victim to life's cruelties. There have been women, children, and even animals in my life - and I have watched their suffering as I, myself suffered._

_"There came a time I became lonely - that pathetic being I once was - I loathe Onigumo with every expanse of darkness in my heart. A raid on a village I was passing through caught Onigumo within it's clutches. So badly burned was he, he was doomed to forever be paralyzed._

_"The day a healer came, a young woman by the name of Kikyou and her younger sister, Kaede, made that vile human's pathetic lust spur to life. He made crude noises and said bitter words to her. Over time, he wanted to use her for she looked young and beautiful like the deceased ones he had once cherished. Eventually, his lust for Kikyou and bitterness for life consumed him, and he called upon the demons in the area that took his body and rebuilt it to enable him to move. He wanted the woman, but when he realized that his heart got in the way of him being content, he cut out his own heart. Once cut, his called himself...Naraku."_

_It was weird. She hadn't heard him speak so much in the past month. She wondered if he was finally giving up. Finally accepting his fate as she was. She took comfort in knowing she wasn't alone, no matter how much she despised the man that kept her warm._

* * *

"From that moment on," Kagome said, "Naraku finally began to open up to me. We spoke a little here a little there - and eventually, I think he came to realize that our paths were one in the same. When we ran out of things to speak about, we would strategically make plans to eventually leave that land, but we never could...until a week ago." She walked along the roadside, kicking a rock along the side.

"What the hell possessed you to even talk to him?" Inuyasha demanded.

Kagome grew upset at his words. She looked over at him and narrowed her eyebrows, her voice still just as stop but the anger still laced within her words, "Would you rather I have spent a hundred and fifty years not opening my mouth at all? Inuyasha, I had resigned myself to my fate - I didn't know when I would be able to see you or the others, if at all. I didn't know if I would ever be able to go back to my own world and hug my mother and cry to her, to tell her of all of the horrible things that have happened to me. Inuyasha - I didn't even _know_ I was in there for a hundred fifty years."

Inuyasha remained quiet the rest of the trip and Kagome didn't say another word. Sesshomaru glanced at the miko. watching as her power danced and crackled lightly across her skin. His thoughts wandered, and soon enough, they had the palace within their sights.

* * *

_**Okay, a little tough and rough around the edges, but I wanted to do a Naraku moment with Kagome. I have many MANY more, and I know the story Naraku just gave isn't really what happened in the actual series, but just bare with me, okay? I like creative writing, and I was having a tough time trying to figure out what they would speak about first. XD Nonetheless, I think I pulled it off a little sooooo yeah...Hope you liked the chapter! I have a little something in mind soon - so stay tuned!**_


	11. Ch 11: A Memory Within a Dream

**_I never realized it, but this story is leaning more heavily on the Naraku side than it is on the Sesshomaru side...Oh well! XD_**

* * *

_Naraku was staring at her again. Well, glaring would be a better word for it. She sat back and watched their surroundings. It was another cold night... but she'd be damned if she allowed herself to be coveted into his blanket of warmth again. She was upset over the _**_last_**_ time it happened. Plus...her and Naraku had previously been arguing over where they should camp for the next few hours._

_After a while of the silence, she finally couldn't take it anymore. Her mouth was beginning to feel locked, as if her entire jaw would soon not be able to move. She knew it was a bad idea to try and eat any of the so-called "plants" here... Nonetheless, she spoke, though slowly. "Why did you do everything you did?"_

_"Argue over the campsite...woman, for the last time-"_

_"No, I mean..." she was quiet for a moment - and he was, too. "Why were you so intent on getting your hands on the jewel? You never really explained it to me. And well, you could've gone about it in a completely different manner. I mean, you didn't have to take so many lives just to get it...did you?"_

_"Woman, your mind will wear you out," he replied, but continued. "There have been many stories and tales of the jewel since it's creation. I wanted the jewel - I still do. It's power... it consumes your mind until nothing is left. It... makes you lose yourself._

_"My original plan was to take Kikyou's life until I witnessed her infatuation with the half breed. After that, I wanted revenge. With the jewel in my hand, slowly warping my mind, I became cunning and was able to disguise myself as anyone and any**thing**. With this knowledge, my plotting began and I pit Kikyou against Inuyasha, and I **loved** every moment of it." He shook his head, as if he was telling too much._

_"The tales and stories of the jewel... most are of power, whereas others are of life and or destruction. I've heard many a rumor that the jewel could bring someone back from the dead. That the jewel can save lives, that it can take them. I've heard that it grants it's wearer and master one wish, and one wish only. I've heard that it needs to be a pure wish - not obscured for any reason._

_"My intentions were pure enough. Anyone with a pure wish - it did not mean that the wish needed to be **holy**, simply **pure**. I wanted that jewel to take my suffering away. So I collected the pieces. The heart of Onigumo was still within me, and everything was obscured. I collected piece after piece, not caring or wanting for anything. I wanted everything to **end**. Not just my life - but every living creature that ever **existed**. I hated Kikyou, Inuyasha, **and** Onigumo **that** much, and ultimately, it's that hate that drove us **here**."_

_Kagome was quiet for a few moments. She was beginning to shiver. Silently cursing in her mind, she stood and walked over to him. She sat between his legs and he opened his kimono for her to snuggle into. Her skin was ice cold to him, and slowly, he began to warm her up. Even went so far as to rub circles on her back and arm._

_"Hey, Naraku?" She asked, a little hesitant. "Do I...Do I resemble Kikyou?" She bit her lip._

_"No," he replied. "You do not smell like earth and bones nor do you have a cold facade within your person. Kikyou, though once alive, never so much as smiled in public. Your physical appearances are different as well. Her hair is cut straight whereas your is uneven. Your have a more slender body than she did as well."_

_Kagome wasn't sure if she should be happy at the fact that she didn't resemble Kikyou in his eyes or be upset over how **detailed** the comparison was about her body and Kikyou's. One thing was for sure..._

_They were different beings with different traits and talents._

* * *

They had arrived at the palace a lot sooner than what it felt like when they were traveling to the spring. Kagome immediately sought out Naraku, who was working on combat maneuvers before the two went up for a bath. They still washed together, of which she didn't mind. After all, she had no sense of modesty because of the fact that her uniform was torn to smithereens and for centuries she was pretty much naked in front of him.

Her dream the night before was of a memory that happened centuries ago. She was honestly surprised when she woke up - that she would remember such a small detail. Then again, women were known for remembering small tidbits, even when it didn't matter to the opposite sex.

She was still very quiet. Even in the bath. "Naraku," she said, barely above a whisper as she washed his hair, "you have such pretty hair."

Naraku glowered and Kagome cracked a small smile. "Woman... I am beginning to think it was a mistake allowing you to regain your voice." He dunked beneath he waters suddenly, causing her to topple over into the sudsy water. She came up sputtering and coughing before playful splashing a rather amused Naraku. When she grew tired of splashing around she began washing her own hair... until Naraku came face-to-face with her. He reached a hand to her cheek...as if he was inspecting it.

He let his hand trail across her skin - down her neck, over her shoulder, down her breast and the little pink bauble. She blushed a bit - she almost felt as though she were getting checked out. "I think I see some rock still in there..." He said, jabbing her with his forefinger in her side. She gasped aloud and dropped her hands from her soapy hair and looked down, inspecting her own body.

"Where!?" She demanded, her voice a bit higher pitch than intended. She was still getting use to her voice...

Naraku sat back and yawned. "Never mind - it was just dirt."

Kagome glowered at him. "Ha ha...very _funny_." Though as she looked at him...he was still covered in all of that rock. She was a little upset over the fact that there was nothing she could do for him. She _actually_ wondered if it would stop him from procreating. When he got into the bath, he was always covered in a towel. Which led her to ask aloud...

"Naraku...is the rock..._down there_... is it covered in it?" Wow...very smooth.

"Do you want to find out?" He asked as he began to shift to take off his towel.

Kagome panicked and quickly turned her back to him. What was wrong with her? She had seen it many times...! But...back on Bleak...everything was one or two shades of one color, and it was hard to distinguish anything in that darkness...

She turned at least a few shades of red before finally rinsing out her hair. "Come on, we're going to be late for dinner!" She said quickly as she left the bath in all her glory. She was stark naked, even when she entered her bedroom. She always did have a habit of drying naturally...

She was so embarrassed, though. With Naraku and the male parts and the bath... speaking of...

What _was_ he doing when he touched her like that? She supposed all she could do now was just attend dinner - maybe she'd weasel it out of him later.

* * *

_**Okay! I know it's been a LONG time since I've updated, but I promise you, I have NOT given up on this story! I have a another chapter I'm typing up at the moment - mostly because I have a couple of ideas. Though if you've got your own thoughts, don't be afraid to share!**_

_**There may be an error or two of grammar in here - mostly because I didn't take the time to look over anything...**_

_**Anyways, catch ya' laterz! And I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**_


	12. Ch 12: Rin-Chan?

_**Just by reading this story, you'd never guess that my favorite couple is SessKag, would you?**_

_**To be honest, you guys, I have no idea WHERE this story is going. XD It could be an orgy story, it could be a gay story...it could EVEN be a threesome story, but there is one thing for CERTAIN.**_

_**This is SO not gonna be an InuKag story - I seem to dislike this pairing the most... And I use to be a huge fan of that particular pairing, too. Hm. Go figure.**_

_**The thing is...I've been reading a lot of fanfics about Naraku and Kagome because I've run out of completed SessKag fics. Sooooo... That's probably the reason this story is leaning heavily on Naraku right now. To be honest, I'm thinking of making two alternate endings. One where she ends up with Sesshomaru...the other with Naraku. I've also thought about having it end rather bitterly or sadly. Mostly because I have a little something in mind for a sequel, though again, not sure if I want to add a sequel to this once I'm through or just leave it be. However...**_

_**I have a poll up on my profile - go ahead and check it out! Tell me what kind of ending YOU want to see! X3 (After all, I'm curious! XD)**_

* * *

She was staring at him again today. Sesshomaru didn't feel perturbed, though he did wonder what the young woman had swirling in around in that stubborn skull of hers. In either case... it was probably best he not acknowledge her. He was sure she'd just shrug it off.

"Ne, Sesshomaru?" She asked in the softest voice ever. He almost didn't hear her - that's how soft her voice was. "What happened to the little girl that hung around with you? Rin-chan?"

That was a sore topic for him. To be honest, he really didn't want to tell her, but...he also knew that Rin would want him to tell her. "She grew to her mid twenties. She had died during childbirth. She gave birth to twins, unfortunately, one Rin and one of the children died."

"Oh," it was quiet for a moment until he heard sniffling. Sesshomaru wanted to groan. Like his younger half brother, he hated when a woman cried, especially if he were the cause of it. He stood from his chair and walked toward the entrance of the rather large study room.

"Come," he said, looking back at her from the corner of his eye.

Without a word or any reluctance, she stood on command and followed after him, wiping the tears from her eyes. He led her to the gardens, of which she had visited with Naraku just before their trip to get rid of her _impurities_. She was led to the center of the garden where a miniature stream circled around a burial marker. "Her granddaughter comes to visit every now and again," he explained, "something about seeing her grandfather and granduncle."

Kagome knew that there were very few reasons a woman would die during childbirth. Sometimes, the baby would get stuck in the umbilical cord, other times the baby would be turned the wrong way. It was more than likely one of the two - and unfortunately, she hadn't been around to help save the poor woman. The people of this era were unskilled and while they knew how to bare children, there was a more likely chance of death, whether it be the baby or the mother.

She could only imagine the suffering Sesshomaru may have undergone. A father - even a surrogate caretaker - would be devastated after knowing their charge or child was dead. Which left her with one question... "Were... were you with her when she gave birth?"

"Yes," he said. "I had to cut her open or risk losing the second pup."

Pup? Oh right, dog demons. She sometimes forgot they had a different term for things. Poor Sesshomaru. And then... she did something that surprised the hell out of him. She hugged him. For a moment, he was, truly and honestly, stunned. His eyes had widened a fraction as she hugged his midsection. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there, Sesshomaru," she said with a sniffle. "I could have saved her."

"Even you cannot stop natural causes of death," he replied, placing his only hand atop her head.

"I can't cheat death, Sesshomaru," She said, looking up to his face with tears threatening to fall from her eyes again, "but I can at least help to prevent it." A small sound, so minuscule, she barely heard it, came from somewhere deep within his chest. It almost sounded... like a whine. He was still mourning... but at least now he knows he wasn't alone.

For a long while, they stood beside Rin's grave, enjoying in each other's company and not saying anything else should the moment be ruined. And when the bell rung for lunch, she and Sesshomaru said their goodbyes to Rin before going back in.

"Thank you," Sesshomaru said, so low, she almost missed it.

She smiled and pet his arm for a moment, and when the they broke through the bushes, she separated herself from him. After all...this was still a palace and Sesshomaru was lord here. She couldn't be caught touching his person - how else was she going to avoid treason?

And so the moment was gone. Life continued on. And everything was right in the world... for now.

* * *

_**Okay, I know this chapter is uber short, but if I didn't cut it there, I was going to end up rambling! And I SERIOUSLY didn't want a rambling session for this chapter. Plus, I needed to cut it somewhere, otherwise this chapter would have ended up WAY too long. X3 I'm going to start working on straightening up some of the chapters from the beginning before I continue on, but hopefully this will stave off my hungry readers!**_


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